Destination NSW has introduced practices and procedures to maximise compliance with PPIPA and the Privacy Act. This policy outlines in some detail the purpose for the collection and use of your Personal Information.

“Personal Information” in this policy means information or any opinion, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable.

2. Destination NSW' Obligations

Destination NSW, in carrying out its functions and activities, collects Personal Information directly from you through its website for various purposes that relate to the development and promotion of tourism and events in New South Wales. The provision of your Personal Information on Destination NSW’s website is voluntary. However, if you choose not to provide your Personal Information we may not be able to forward the material that you are requesting or provide you with one of the numerous services available through this website.

3. Purpose of this Policy

This privacy policy details the collection of Personal Information by Destination NSW.

Destination NSW will only collect Personal Information for a lawful purpose which directly relates to our primary function as a NSW Government agency and for obtaining feedback about the effectiveness of our services. Destination NSW will not collect any more information than is necessary for it to fulfill these functions. Destination NSW’s functions are listed in the Destination NSW Act (2011): http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/acts/2011-21.pdf.

Destination NSW will collect, store, use and disclose Personal Information in accordance with the PPIPA, the Privacy Act and any other relevant laws and codes of practice in operation from time to time. This includes use of Personal Information by Destination NSW’s international offices which are listed here - http://www.destinationnsw.com.au/contact-us/key-contacts

Destination NSW has prepared a privacy management plan in compliance with the PPIPA (Privacy Management Plan). This Privacy Management Plan sets out how Destination NSW complies with the PPIPA.

Destination NSW is responsible for the overall management of the Personal Information we collect from you, store, access, use and disclose. Anyone engaged to collect, store, use or disclose Personal Information for or on behalf of Destination NSW will be required to comply with the Destination NSW’s Privacy Management Plan, the IPPs and the APPs, as part of their terms of engagement.

4. Why Destination NSW collects Personal Information

Destination NSW conducts a large part of its operations over the Internet. As part of its function, Destination NSW processes thousands of requests for tour brochures or information, provides avenues for the booking of holidays or facilities, provides opportunities for tourism operators to market and promote their services, distributes industry based publications, conducts many exciting competitions and collects information on the types of holidays or events that you, the consumer, would like to see more of in the future so that we can help the NSW tourism industry grow.

In order to provide as much information as possible, our website is quite large. For this reason, we have designed this section in a manner that provides you with a quick and easy pathway to understanding our practices and procedures at each web page.

Publications

This website offers an extensive list of free publications including policies and plans, the Destination NSW’s Annual Report and various publications containing research and marketing material. To download the publication, please follow the downloading instructions. The downloading of these publications does not involve the collection of Personal Information.

Your e-mail requests for publications or information are only used by Destination NSW to process your request for information and are not collected for any other purpose. After your request for information has been processed, your e-mail request and any Personal Information it contains is safely destroyed.

Market Research Surveys

Surveys are designed to collect specific market research and/or demographic information that Destination NSW may use for planning and strategy development. The Personal Information that is collected from you by this survey is de-identified so that your identity can no longer be determined. The original survey is held by Destination NSW. The information is only used in an aggregated form as statistical information. The statistical information that is collected is analysed to allow us to deliver more exciting and competitive travel related activities and events that in turn allow the NSW tourism industry to grow.

Where applications or bookings to attend these events are offered online, we will ensure that you have been offered the opportunity to be listed on our tourism operator’s database for future events of that kind. We will also indicate if we intend to distribute the participants list to all attendees and you will have the option to have your name deleted from the participants list. Our industry database is held securely by Destination NSW and is not disclosed to anyone outside Destination NSW. Should you wish to change any of your Personal Information that we hold on our database, please contact 02 9931 1111.

Competitions

Competitions are designed to encourage consumers to participate in travel related activities and events and to collect specific market research and/or demographic information that Destination NSW may use for planning and strategy development of future tourism products.

Once the winning entrant is determined, the Personal Information contained in the remaining unsuccessful entries is de-identified so that your identity can no longer be determined within the market research material. The original entry form is held by Destination NSW.

After the competition is determined, the remaining information is only used in an aggregated form as statistical information. The statistical information that is collected is analysed to allow us to deliver more exciting and competitive travel related activities and events that in turn allow the NSW tourism industry to grow.

As part of a competition, Destination NSW may invite entrants to select the option of receiving special promotional material via email. At this time, we may collect relevant preference information to better tailor the special promotional material we send to you. Should you elect to receive the special promotional material; the Personal Information we collect from you will only be used to send you the special promotional material and will not be used for any other purpose. The receipt of the special promotional material is voluntary and can be changed, deleted or unsubscribed at any time.

Funding Programs

Destination NSW provides special purpose funding in order to support tourism marketing activities. One such funding program is the Regional Flagship Events Program. Our applications for support under the program are tailored to ensure that we ask solely for the information that is required to process your application. Any Personal Information or financial information that may be sought is treated as "commercial-in-confidence" and is not circulated throughout Destination NSW. The circulation of the information is restricted to authorising officers within Destination NSW and members of a panel convened by Destination NSW to conduct the assessment process of applications. All funding applications are securely stored onsite for approximately 2 years after which they may be archived at the State Records facility or securely destroyed. You may request to have access to your own application for funding by contacting our Regional Flagship Events Coordinator on 02 9931 1111. However, you cannot have access to any other person’s application. Should you be the successful applicant to the funding, you and your business may be showcased in one of our media releases or at an industry forum. Should you wish not to be personally identified, please contact our Regional Tourism team on 02 9331 1111 to have your Personal Information suppressed.

Get Connected

If you are a tourism operator and would like to comprehensively display your details on Destination NSW’s consumer websites, www.visitnsw.com and www.sydney.com, you will need to register through the Get Connected membership program. Simple and easy to use Get Connected membership is free and is open to all tourism operators within New South Wales. Terms and conditions apply, please see: http://www.destinationnsw.com.au/tourism/industry-opportunities/connect-your-tourism-product/get-connected.

As a tourism operator, your contact details including address, telephone, fax, e-mail address and the title of your designated contact officer are collected by Destination NSW through the membership program. The provision of your Personal Information on our website is voluntary. However, if you choose not to provide your details we cannot process your request for membership.

Destination NSW recommends that the title of your designate contact officer for public contact purposes be an official title such as “Booking Officer” or “Registration Clerk” and avoid using your staff’s personal names.

Our membership database may also be provided to Local Tourism Associations, Regional Tourism Organisations, the Department of State and Regional Development and the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority.

The Get Connected membership program offers opportunities to have your business details forwarded to the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) which is the exclusive supplier of tourism product information to Tourism Australia’s website, www.australia.com. As an added benefit, your contact details including address, telephone, fax, e-mail address and the name of your designated contact officer are also included in the ATDW. The ATDW is a joint initiative of all state and territory government tourism organisations and Tourism Australia. It provides a central database of tourism product and destination information that is made available to websites including Tourism Australia’s website, www.australia.com. Destination NSW is not responsible for the information handling practices or privacy policies of Tourism Australia or the ATDW. For more information concerning Tourism Australian’s privacy policy or information handling practices, please refer to the appropriate sections on their website: www.australia.com.

Feedback

Destination NSW values any comments you may have concerning the structure or content of this website. Your comments will be kept on file for planning purposes, so that our future upgrades to the website can incorporate the wishes of our users. Your e-mail comments will be kept solely for the purposes of future planning and will not be integrated into any of our consumer databases. We will not disclose your e-mail addresses or any Personal Information they may contain, to anyone outside Destination NSW. Should you wish to view your comments at any time please contact us at info@dnsw.com.au.

Destination NSW may provide feedback facilities on their websites to allow users to provide input into the future development of the sites and to comment on the provision of service by Destination NSW. The provision of personal details on feedback is optional.

Users may provide personal details for the purpose of receiving a reply to their feedback. This Personal Information will only be used for the purpose for which it was provided. We will not add your email address or name to any mailing list.

Destination NSW may publish aggregated information about feedback on the site, but will ensure that this aggregated information cannot be used to identify individual users.

5. Collection of your Personal Information

Destination NSW’s collection of Personal Information is performed in an open manner. Accordingly, you will be informed when your Personal Information is being collected, how it will be used, how it will be stored, who else might have access and any consequences where the requested Personal Information is not provided.

Destination NSW will ensure that any Personal Information collected is relevant to Destination NSW’s purpose (as detailed in section 3), is accurate, complete and up-to-date.

Destination NSW will collect information directly from you, unless it is reasonably impracticable to do so.

Email Addresses

Email addresses are recorded when an email message is sent to Destination NSW or when a user subscribes to an online mailing list.

These email addresses are stored electronically in accordance with standards and authorities under the State Records Act 1998 (NSW). An email address is only used for the purpose for which it is provided and is not added to any unauthorised mailing list or disclosed to other organisations unless you request that this to be done.

If you have subscribed to one of Destination NSW’s online mailing lists, you can easily remove your email details from the list by unsubscribing. Each mailing list provides clear instructions on how to unsubscribe.

6. Use of Personal Information within Destination NSW

Destination NSW will only use, communicate or handle Personal Information for the primary purpose for which the information was collected, or in circumstances where you consent to other use of your Personal Information.

7. Disclosure of Personal Information to third parties

Destination NSW will not disclose your Personal Information to anyone without your consent unless legally required to do so.

8. Exceptions

The circumstances in which Destination NSW will collect, use and disclose more extensive information than stated above in the following circumstances:

unauthorised attempts to access files which are not publically available

unauthorised tampering or interference with files on the listed websites

unauthorised attempts to index the contents of the listed websites

attempts to intercept messages of other users of the listed websites

communications which are defamatory, abusive, vilify individuals or groups or which give rise to a suspicion that an offence is being committed

attempts to otherwise compromise the security of the web server, breach the laws of the State of New South Wales or Commonwealth of Australia, or interfere with the use of the listed websites by other users.

Destination NSW reserves the right to make disclosures to relevant authorities where the use of the listed websites raises a suspicion that an offence is being, or has been, committed. In the event of an investigation, Destination NSW will provide access to data to any law enforcement agency that may exercise a warrant to inspect our logs.

Destination NSW may initiate proceedings in relation to any loss or damage suffered as a result of unauthorised use of information or any of the above circumstances.

Disclosure may also occur where it is lawfully authorised or required under any act, other law or statutory agency or foreign body.

Destination NSW does not have any responsibility for the privacy policies or practices of third party sites linked to from the listed websites.

9. Access, accuracy and amendments

Destination NSW takes all reasonable steps to ensure the Personal Information it collects is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Accordingly and as required by the PPIPA, you can access any of your Personal Information that we hold, except in the circumstances set out in appropriate legislation. If you would like to access or update your Personal Information, or if you would like to know more about the Personal Information that we may hold on you please e-mail us at info@dnsw.com.au.

10. Security of your Personal Information

Destination NSW takes all reasonable steps to:

protect the security of any Personal Information held, be it stored in electronic or hard copy format;

11. Internet Use

There are risks associated with the transmission of information over the Internet and you should therefore make your own assessment of the risks in the provision of your information to Destination NSW’s website.

This website contains numerous links to other organisation’s web pages. Destination NSW is not responsible for the information handling practices or privacy policies of those other organisations including any of the Regional Tourism Organisations. Destination NSW can of course provide you with an alternative means of dealing with it, or transacting business with it, if you feel uncomfortable with the electronic transmission of information.

The listed websites may utilise cookies to enhance the user's experience of the site. A cookie is a small text file that is sent back to your computer's hard drive from a host website. Cookies record your preferences in relation to your use of a site and provide other information that allows us to recognise you in the future. The cookies on the listed websites do not read the information on your hard drive nor do they make your computer perform any unauthorised actions or make your computer send information to any other computer via the Internet.

You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to allow it. However, if you decide to not accept cookies, some of Destination NSW’s web pages may not display properly or you may not be permitted to access certain information. When you access any of the pages on the website, we automatically record information that identifies, for each page accessed:

the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the machine which has accessed it

your top-level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc.)

the address of your server

the date and time of your visit to the site

the pages accessed and documents downloaded

the previous site visited

the type of browser and operating system you have used.

The information collected during each visit to our website is aggregated with similar logged information and published in reports in order for Destination NSW to manage its website services and identify patterns of usage of the sites. This will assist us in improving Destination NSW’s sites and the services offered on them.

Destination NSW will not disclose or publish information that identifies individual computers, or potentially identifies sub-groupings of addresses, without consent or otherwise in accordance with the PPIPA.

12. Data Matching

“Data matching” means the bringing together of at least two data sets that contain Personal Information, and that come from different sources, and the comparison of those data sets with the intention of producing a match. DNSW may from time to time utilise Google’s Customer Match technology (a data matching tool) to provide a service to you whereby offers are geared to your personal preferences. Accordingly, DNSW may share your Personal Information with Google’s Customer Match platform in order to undertake data matching. In the course of data matching, your Personal Information remains protected through the use of a one-way hashing mechanism that cannot be encrypted. Personal Information that DNSW shares with Google, including email addresses, will be hashed against Google’s database of hashed users, without Google ever seeing the unhashed data. By continuing to use this site, you consent to DNSW sharing your Personal Information with Google for data matching purposes. If you would not like DNSW to use your Personal information for data matching, you can request such by contacting DNSW on +61 02 9931 1111. For more information on Google’s Customer Match platform visit: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6334160

13. Confidential Information

Any Personal Information that we collect from you will held by us in the strictest of confidence.

14. Complaints

If you wish to make a complaint in relation to privacy, you may do so by contacting:

15. Other

Jobs

This page contains a list of the all the advertised vacancies within Destination NSW. To download the information pack, please follow the downloading instructions. The downloading of the information pack does not involve the collection of Personal Information. Should you be interested in applying for the position, you will need to complete the application form and forward it to the designate officer.

16. Conclusion

Due to the developing nature of privacy principles for online communication, this policy may be modified or expanded in light of new developments or issues that may arise from time to time. The amended policy will be posted to this site and will operate from the time it is posted.